The present invention relates to a lock, in particular for a motor vehicle, having a lock latch as a closing element displaced upon closing of the lock from an open position to a closed position.
A conventional lock is provided for locking a foldable backrest of a motor vehicle backseat as described in German Patent Document DE 197 13 753 A1. The lock, which is kinematically coupled to a display via a coupling element, is to be unlocked via a displaceable actuating button. Upon displacement of the actuating button into an unlocking position which opens the lock, the display reaches a visible position in which it is to be seen from the display that the backrest is not locked or is not completely locked. If the display is in a non-visible position, the lock must be locked. However, when the display is not visible, it is not to be precluded that the lock is not locked.
The present invention provides a lock having a lock latch which is displaced upon closing of the lock, which easily allows reliable closing of the lock.
Various advantages of the invention are achieved by the features described herein. Advantageous embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the following specification and claims.
In its open position, the lock latch is fixed in a frictional and/or formfitting way by a removable open-position retention part. In addition, the lock latch is loaded in its closed position by a spring element. Upon displacement of a part fixable by the lock in a predefined position into the predefined position, for example, upon displacement of a backrest of a motor vehicle backseat into an upright normal position, the closing element or another component, by interaction with the lock latch and/or with the open-position retention part, causes the lock latch to be detached from the open-position retention part. Subsequently, the lock latch may independently displace itself into its closed position, in which the lock latch is fixed by the closed-position retention part, by the pre-tension force of the spring element and/or by the closing element acting on the lock latch. In an especially simple embodiment of the lock, the closed-position retention part is formed by the spring element, which, in the closed position, causes a sufficient retention force or a sufficient retention torque on the lock latch in the direction of the closed position and thus prevents the closing element from being able to detach from the lock latch. The lock latch may be a simple rotating latch, which has a leg implemented as a catch hook, for example, which engages behind the closing element and thus fixes it when the lock is closed. The closed position of the lock latch is indicated by a display device in an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, which may be activated especially simply by the lock latch. The display device may have a spring-loaded bolt, which is axially displaceable as a function of the position of the lock latch and indicates in a visible axial position whether the lock is closed and thus the closing element is fixed by the lock latch.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.